Hi everyone

This new subforum, recently set up by Tommy, will be used to try and keep everyone touch with what is going on within the EBRC and will be used on an as-when-basis when we have something to say or a request to make. Obviously, the success of bird-recording in the UAE (rare species and otherwise) depends on your contributions and we realize that it is important to keep you all informed. We welcome any comments to anything we post here, either by simply replying or emailing an EBRC member.

We have recently made one change to submitting records that we hope, in many cases, will make the process much, much faster. A revised RBR is available here at http://www.uaebirding.com/ebrc.html; click on the Download RBR link.

You will see that there are a number of fields highlighted in yellow. If you have a species that is well-photographed and straightforward to identify, these are the only fields that need to be completed (but, of course, remember to paste your images in as well in the appropriate place!). Hopefully this will make completing these RBRs much, much faster (we are aiming for 5 mins tops!). For species that have not been photographed, or for which you feel need / you would like to provide extra comments or information, simply use the same form in the normal way, i.e. fill in as much of the form as possible.

A list of outstanding RBRs (and decisions for assessed ones) is also maintained at http://www.uaebirding.com/ebrc.html. Click on the 2010 onwards link for details. If one of your records is here (like a couple of mine currently are!) please fill in an RBR and email it in to us. As outlined above, for well-photographed records (and nowadays, most of them are) this should take merely a few minutes.

We have also made a few changes to the Species requiring description list. For example, Common Gull, with 24 records, has now been removed.

Finally, we have just begun a process of reviewing all records that we possess on file for a number of species that are particularly difficult to identify or have occurred only once or twice and not for many years. This is an ongoing process, and it will take some time, but we will, of course, keep you informed of the results once the review is complete.

Good birding

OSCAR
(on behalf of the EBRC)